Special Feature:
The Jesus Seminar

"Jesus did not ask us to believe that his death was a blood sacrifice, that he was going to die for our
sins."

"Jesus did not ask us to believe that he was the messiah. He certainly never suggested that he was
the second person of the trinity. In fact, he rarely referred to himself at all."

"Jesus did not call upon people to repent, or fast, or observe the sabbath. He did not threaten with
hell or promise heaven."

"Jesus did not ask us to believe that he would be raised from the dead."

"Jesus did not ask us to believe that he was born of a virgin."

"Jesus did not regard scripture as infallible or even inspired."

So says Robert W. Funk, Architect and Founder of the Jesus Seminar, in a Keynote Address to the
Jesus Seminar Fellows. (Taken from the article, "The Jesus Seminar," by Jimmy Williams, featured below.)

The Jesus SeminarJimmy Williams
The Jesus Seminar is a group of New Testament scholars who have been meeting periodically since 1985.
The initial two hundred has now dwindled to about seventy-four active members. They initially focused on
the sayings of Jesus within the four Gospels to determine the probability of His actually having said the
things attributed to Him...

The Corrected JesusRichard B. Hays
A new book called The Five Gospels--the fruit of the labors of the much-publicized "Jesus
Seminar"--claims to provide definitive new answers to the question, "What did Jesus really say?" A panel of
New Testament scholars, meeting over a period of several years, has given us a new red-letter edition of
the four canonical gospels plus the Gospel of Thomas, with the words adjudged by a poll of these scholars
actually to have been spoken by Jesus printed in red type.

The Gospels As Historical Sources For
JesusR. T. France
This article addresses two main points: 1) the indispensability of the four
canonical gospels; and 2) the acceptability of the gospels as historical
sources. any responsible reconstruction of Christian origins must find
its starting-point in the first-century gospel records, not in the hints
of an alternative view of Jesus contained in second-century literature from
the Gnostic wing of Christianity.

Historical JesusWilliam Lane Craig
Dr. Craig has written several articles pertaining to the historicity of Jesus Christ. These can
be found at his virtual office. The articles are:
From Easter to Valentinus and the Apostles' Creed Once More,
The Guard at the Tomb, The Problem of Miracles, The
Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus, and Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Christian CanonDon Closson
This essay the development of the doctrine of the Scriptures in the Church Age. Just how did the
church decide on the books for inclusion in the New Testament? This discussion includes both how the Canon was
established and the various ways theologians have viewed the Bible since the Canon was established.

Why Care About Theology?Jerry Solomon
Sound theology is very important in the life of a Christian. History shows us this has always been true.
From heresies in the very early church, through the upheaval of the Reformation, to the "Jesus Seminar" of
more recent times, Christians have been challenged to give serious attention to matters of theology.